Cellphone tracking a powerful tool for police

Location information is used in emergencies and for investigations

Sep. 9, 2012

Stacey Blair takes calls at the new 911 center at the Springfield-Greene County Public Safety Center on Wednesday. Operators can request location information from cellphone companies if authorities believe someone is in danger. / Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

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The 911 call center at the Springfield-Greene County Public Safety Center has 22 workstations for dispatchers. Possible suicides, kidnappings or violent domestic situations are examples of 911 calls that might result in a request for cellphone location information. / Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

By the numbers

2.6

Days go by before someone is located by a cellphone in Greene County 12-16

Annual percentage increase in requests from law enforcement for subscriber information, as reported by Verizon and T-Mobile 1-2

Minutes it takes for local law enforcement to obtain location information from a cellphone company in an emergency.

Once every few days, Greene County authorities find a person’s location by tracking down a cellphone.

This location information is often obtained without a search warrant, and the person sought might never know.

Rationales for seeking a cellphone location vary from “attempted suicide” to “missing child” to “sounds of possible disturbance,” according to documents describing area requests for location information.

On Aug. 6, a Greene County dispatcher asked Verizon Wireless for the location of a man who was believed to be threatening to harm an “entire family.”

On Aug. 15, location information was requested after a reported dispute between a 911 caller and a roommate.

“Big Brother can be watching you,” said J.R. Webb, interim director at the 911 center in Springfield. “But we are only using it when someone is having an emergency.”

Information guarded

Local law enforcement agencies acknowledge they obtain cellphone data for emergencies and investigations, but for the most part, specific records are not kept.

Also, the scope of information obtained by local law enforcement is closely guarded.

According to documents the News-Leader was able to obtain, cellphones have become a powerful tool for local law enforcement — providing real-time location information of crime victims and suspects.

Local officials say this ability has saved lives.

During a recent 100-day period, cellphone providers gave the location of subscribers to area authorities at least 38 times.

These records were obtained from the Springfield-Greene County 911 center. Dispatchers at the call center fill out a form each time they request information from a cellphone provider.

Under federal law, officers and dispatchers do not need a warrant to obtain this information as long as the situation poses an “immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to a person.” Warrant-less requests are also granted for threats to national security or activities related to organized crime.

Webb said a request for location information — also known as a “ping locate” — is sought when a 911 operator or officer believes someone may be in danger.

Because of the call center’s mapping technology, 911 operators already know the location of callers whether the call is made using a cellphone or land line.

The phone getting “pinged” usually belongs to a third party — the number is provided by the person who dialed 911 or reported a concern to an officer in the field, Webb explained.

Possible suicides, kidnappings or violent domestic situations are common examples of calls that might result in a request for location information, Webb said.

Occasionally, operators will ping a cellphone caller who is disconnected before the location can be noted.

Usually, Webb said, an officer will respond to the scene to confirm there is an emergency before operators seek location data.

Asked why records were not kept for more than 100 days, Webb replied: “We didn’t see a need to.”

Webb said the rate of requests shown in the documents is an accurate representation of use over time.

Nationally, some cellphone providers have reported requests by law enforcement for cell information increased 15 percent annually over the last five years.

Webb said he didn’t know if that trend could be applied locally.

Use in investigations

Beyond obtaining location data in emergencies, local law enforcement also uses cellphone records for investigations, but how often the information is requested is not clear.

“It runs the gamut,” King said. “It just depends on where the investigation goes.”

Springfield police and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office both say they get a warrant for records during non-emergencies.

But neither agency tracks how often such requests are made.

The News-Leader was able to obtain only a few documents — three invoices showing payment to cellphone companies for producing records — from the sheriff’s office.

Those records show the sheriff’s office has spent a total of $260 with Sprint, Verizon and AT&T this year. According to the invoices, cellphone companies assess processing fees to agencies for the time it takes the providers to produce the records.

Spokespersons from Springfield police and the Missouri Highway Patrol said they request these records from cellphone companies, but officials maintain that they are not asked to pay for the records. Therefore, no records exist.

What can they get?

The breadth of information obtained by local law enforcement from cellphone companies is also unclear.

But, according to documents given to U.S. Rep. Ed Markey earlier this summer, cellphone providers offer a laundry list of services to law enforcement.

Markey, a representative from Massachusetts, requested the information from cellphone companies and provided their responses on his website.

Those responses included lists of services that cellphone carriers offer law enforcement throughout the country.

Those services, which require a warrant, include access to a subscriber’s voice mail, a log of incoming and outgoing calls, as well as continuous tracking of location.

Another service offered by some companies is called a “cell tower dump,” which gives information of all subscribers in a particular area during a particular time — Metro PCS charges $50 per cellphone tower per two-hour period for this, according to the letter sent to Markey from the company in May.

Springfield police spokesman Cpl. Matt Brown declined a request to specify what type of information the department has requested.

Brown said the News-Leader request “concerns investigative techniques and practices that we don’t want the public necessarily knowing how and when we ask for specific information like that.”

“We’re very guarded with how much information we allow out in the public about certain investigative methods.”